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Greg Monroe Boosts Pistons NBA Odds in Futures Markets

The Detroit Pistons and Greg Monroe have had a standoff but it looks like the Pistons have won. They’ll get their big man back for one more year, which definitely boosts their NBA odds.

Pistons Re-Sign Monroe To One-Year, $5.48 M
Monroe was a restricted free agent this offseason but with so many teams looking to make improvements, he figured that he’d land an offer sheet somewhere and the Pistons wouldn’t match. Originally, the Pistons offered Monroe a four-year deal worth slightly more than the $54 million that they gave Josh Smith but he wants a five-year deal for max money at $84 million. So he passed and was hoping to land an offer sheet. As the big names like LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Carmelo Anthony all made their decisions, Monroe found himself with few suitors. As a result, he’s back with the Pistons for one more year until he becomes an unrestricted free agent in 2015.

What Does Monroe Mean To The Pistons?
When you take a look at Monroe’s impact on the Pistons, it’s clear to see that his presence is integral. The 24-year-old played in all 82 games last season and finished with a PER rating of 18.2, which is second on the team only to center Andre Drummond. He was third on the team with 15.2 points per game, second in rebounds at 9.3 and chipped in 2.1 assists, 1.11 steals and 0.57 blocks per game. If you only looked at the stats, you’d have to say that he’s a valuable asset.

However, Monroe might be more valuable to other teams than he would be the Pistons. The challenge is that he plays a very similar game to Drummond and while that would work in the NBA five or 10 years ago, right now, there’s a push for floor spacing and power forwards who can shoot are deemed valuable. That’s because a lot of teams don’t even use a traditional center (see: Miami Heat over the last four seasons). In essence, that drops Monroe’s value somewhat. When you consider that Josh Smith also doesn’t shoot well from the perimeter, the Pistons become fairly easy to defend when Smith, Monroe and Drummond are in the lineup.

Monroe has more value to other teams than he does Detroit. Overall, nobody from the 2010 NBA Draft had more value through the 2012-13 season when you use ESPN’s advanced analytical stat WARP (wins above replacement player). He posted a 27.4. However, after adding Smith to this mess of a frontcourt, Monroe suffered and had a bad year.

How To Bet The News
If you’re planning on making NBA picks on the Pistons, you’re happy that Monroe is back but what you’re really banking on is new head coach Stan Van Gundy doing a better job of figuring out how to use this lineup. Coach Van Gundy has infused a lot of shooting on this team and that should benefit guys like Monroe.

Realistically, if you’re just looking at talent, the Pistons could be the third-best team in the Eastern Conference. The question is whether or not Van Gundy can get this team to mesh. There’s a 60/40 chance that he gets more out of this team than Mo Cheeks ever did. If that’s the case, then you might want to look at over for their regular season wins. As far as betting them to win the division, East or the NBA Championship, you’d have to be crazy. They’re at 100/1 NBA odds to win the East and 175/1 to win the title. As far as the division goes, the Cleveland Cavaliers or Chicago Bulls will take care of that.